Alice
by MySilentVoice
Summary: Alternate Universe. 'The Alice was a mysterious foreign substance that was somehow released into the air. It wiped everyone off the face of the Earth. Except us, the Alices. ' Or at least, that's what they say. But isn't it all a lie?


**Alice**

**Chapter 1**

**By MySilentVoice**

…

I squeezed my eyes shut just as the needle pierced my bare arm. No matter how many times I went through this, I couldn't help but fear those sharp things.

Narumi-sensei was chuckling. Most likely at my childishness. They all do. "You can open your eyes now Mikan-chan. We're done."

I smiled sheepishly and opened my eyes. "Hehe…it didn't seem to hurt much this time."

"Is that so? Wonderful. I can report this to the engineering department. They've been working on a less painful needle since you kids are always howling in pain during injections." He smiled, patting my now bandaged arm. "We'll observe you closely for any changes. The new formula should take away those strange aches and pains of yours."

I felt myself nod and my lips pull into a grin. "Thanks Narumi-sensei. Anything else you need to check?"

"Well," Narumi-sensei scratched his chin thoughtfully. "There hasn't been any changes right? With your Alice I mean." I shook my head. "Same as usual. Nothing."

Narumi-sensei sighed deeply and sank into his chair. He picked up a file from the desk and shifted through it. "All the results from last month's checkup came up to nothing." He looked me square in the eye. "While there are traces of Alice in your body, you don't appear to have one."

"That's good isn't it? I mean…I'm not like the other kids at least, with their crazy Alices. After all, that's why we live in this underground containment centre right? To cure the kids who have been infected with the Alice."

The Alice was a mysterious foreign substance that was somehow released into the air. It wiped everyone off the face of the Earth. Except us, the Alices. Instead of killing us, it modified our internal body structure and minds, turning us into some supernatural version of the regular human. To some people, maybe the prospect of having powers and unusual abilities is cool, but for us Alices, these special powers are nothing but a painful disease.

For as long as I can remember, I've been living in this underground place with a few hundred other kids. The grownups say the Alice wiped our memories clean, so none of us can remember what life was like before any of this. All the kids here spend their days going back and forth between school and the lab. At school we are taught how to harness our powers so we don't lose control over them, but half our time is spent in the lab where they give us injections and medicine to help take away the pain the Alice gives us. It doesn't help much though, everyone visits the lab at least twice a week.

In short, we are quite miserable.

The funny thing about me is, even though tests show I have been infected by the Alice, I don't seem to have one. I can't do anything special like the other kids, but the grownups say the Alice is there. I guess it must be true, since I am always in pain like everyone else.

I slide off the chair and roll down my sleeve to cover my exposed arm. Narumi-sensei passes me a slip of paper. I blanch at the sight of it.

"Not more pills…" I groan. Narumi-sensei chuckles lightly.

"Sorry Mikan-chan," he says. "I know you're already on medication but these pills should stabilize your system and help your Alice take form."

"Why would we want it to take form?" I say grumpily.

"It'll be easier for us to flush the Alice out of your system if we can first detect it. We'll allow it to crawl out from its hiding place, then we strike and then…" he smiles mischievously. "We go in for the kill."

I reluctantly accept the piece of paper and bid Narumi-sensei farewell.

Outside Narumi-sensei's lab sits his next patient. I smile brightly at him. "Koko, hi!"

Koko grins back at me, slapping me on the shoulder. "Mikan-chan! About time you were finished. I'm having a horrible headache."

"As always." I say with a sad smile. Koko gets headaches quite often. I guess that's because his Alice allows him to read minds. I'm sure he's in constant pain everyday, but he is always smiling and so full of life.

Koko pokes my forehead hard and shakes his head at me mockingly. "Don't you go feeling sorry for me missy. These headaches are no problem for the Great Koko! I'm so awesome, I can barely feel the pain!"

"Quit reading my mind," I scowl. But my lips quickly melt into a smile. "You better go on in, the sooner the headaches go away the better right?"

"These pains ain't hurting me, after all, I'm the Great-"

"The Great Koko," I say softly. "But I guess you're a liar too, for there's no way it doesn't hurt."

He looks at me, surprised. Then he shakes his head, chuckling softly. Sticking his tongue out at me, he opens the door and disappears into the room.

…

At the counter, as I wait to collect my medication, the door opens and the most unlikely pair enters. It is Hotaru, my bestest friend ever, but something is different about her, she looks so weak. Her eyes are ringed by dark circles and her legs seem incapable of holding her body up. Beside her is none other than my boyfriend, Natsume Hyuuga. He has an arm around Hotaru to support her, and his eyes are alight with fury and frustration. I feel a slight pang of jealously but quickly push it down in disgust.

"Hotaru, Natsume," I call, "Hotaru, What's wrong?"

Hotaru smiles weakly at me. That's when I know something is wrong. Hotaru never smiles.

"She collapsed in the middle of class." Natsume explained as they shuffled past me. "Is Narumi in?"

"He's attending to Koko right now."

Natsume helps Hotaru into a chair and runs his hand through his hair, making him look more wild and disheveled then he already is. "Damn it, we need to see him now."

I briefly wonder why he is so anxious to have Hotaru see the doctor but I shake off the feeling of uneasiness. I kneel down beside Hotaru's slumped form and gather her into my arms. Her body is shivering and she doesn't resist the embrace like she normally does. My eyes widen in panic.

"We could take her to see the other doctors," I say. "Maybe Rei-"

"No," Natsume cuts me off curtly. "Definitely not him."

I watch as he paces to and fro, muttering to himself. I bite my lip in worry.

I pull Hotaru's arm over my shoulder and help her rise. "Come on, Narumi-sensei's office is that way."

Natsume stalks ahead of me and upon reaching the office, raps sharply on the door with his knuckles. When he doesn't get an answer he kicks the door hard, until it rattles in its frame. A smiling Narumi-sensei opens the door, completely oblivious to the scowl Natsume is giving him.

"Why Natsume-kun, how nice of you to drop by-" He stops mid-sentence as soon as he notices Hotaru. A dark look crosses his face and he gives Natsume a brief nod. He opens the door wider. "Bring her in."

I shuffle forward with Hotaru but Natsume stops me. "I'll bring her in. You should go back to school."

Before I can protest, he has already pried Hotaru from me and is now supporting her. "You missed morning classes, you should get back before the afternoon classes start." I look at him, confused, feeling slightly hurt. Why is he chasing me away like this? I look to Narumi-sensei but he only throws me an encouraging smile and says, "He's right, Mikan-chan. Don't worry, we'll take care of Hotaru-chan."

I mutter a barely audible 'okay' and turn to leave, but Natsume stops me. Adjusting Hotaru a bit, he leans in and pecks me on the cheek. "Don't worry about her, alright?" he says softly. "Just trust me."

I stare at him in surprise for a few moments, then my mouth breaks into a huge smile. I throw my arms around both him and Hotaru and squeeze them into a tight hug.

"Get off me already…" Hotaru mutters suddenly and I jump back. She lifts her head slightly and smirks a little. "Idiot."

…

The school is a short five minute walk from the lab and I arrive there in no time. The huge clock tower tells me it's currently lunch break so I head for the dining hall. Feeling my stomach growl, I join the queue for food. As the robot server hands me my tray, I thrust my hand into a scanner. It bathes my hand in a blue glow and beeps. All the kids here have a microchip inserted into our wrists. They use it to monitor our bodies and lots of other technical stuff I'm too lazy to memorize. At every meal, we have to get our wrists scanned, and some supercomputer somewhere will identify us and give us the correct dose of pills. In addition to the medication we get from the lab, we are forced to take these extra ones at mealtimes. Sometimes I wonder, with all the drugs we're taking, is it any wonder we are in pain 24/7?

Today I get two bright blue pills. Yesterday's were yellow. But I pick up my tray anyway and wind my way through the crowd in search of my friends. I see them at our usual table and they wave me over.

I scoot into a seat next to Ruka. He is smiling, but his blue eyes are full of worry and concern. "Sakura, are you better now?" His question makes me realize that the pains have gone away, and I nod happily, ignoring the fact that they will probably return in a few days. "Yup, Narumi-sensei gave me shot and I'm all better now."

Everyone breathes a sigh of relief. Yuu adjusts his glasses nervously and asks quietly, "Did you run into Hotaru-chan and Natsume-kun?"

"Yeah, I did. Hotaru looked pretty bad. But she is with Narumi-sensei now so I'm sure she's fine. She was even well enough to call me an idiot."

"Oh, thank goodness. It was such a scare when she suddenly collapsed in class." Anna says. "She didn't pass out but she looked really ill."

"I've never seen anyone collapse before," Nonoko whispers harshly. "Usually all we get is the usual aches and pains but this is serious."

"I'm sure she's just tired. I hear that they've been giving her more projects to work on recently." Sumire says. "But I guess it can't be helped, seeing as her Alice is so useful."

Ruka picks up his fork and sighs. Instead of eating, he pushes the food around his plate absentmindedly. "This Alice thing…It's such a pain."

"Oh? I thought you liked your Alice?" Kitsuneme says teasingly. "You just love the fact that you can talk to the animals."

Ruka blushes heavily and stabs a piece of broccoli with his fork. "I…I guess I like my Alice…But isn't the price too heavy? We have all these health issues and we're stuck in this underground prison…And wasn't it was because of the Alice that the human race was wiped out?" He eats the broccoli, a sour look on his face. When he opens his mouth to speak again, his voice is quiet once more. "I've been reading lots of books about the world up there. What it was like before the Alice destroyed everything." He tilts his head back and stares wistfully at the ceiling. "There were millions of different species of animals…things like fish, birds and lots of others. Down here, we only have a few animals that were rescued. But the rest are gone." He smiles sadly. "I would gladly give up my Alice if it meant those animals could have lived."

We sat in silence, absorbing his words. The sound of a bell echoed throughout the room, signaling the last five minutes of our lunch break. Everyone quickly ate their food, and at last when we were all finished, we raised our glasses of juice, milk, or water in the air and clinked them together.

Then we popped our various pills into our mouths and gulped down our drinks. Anna and Nonoko coughed loudly while the rest of us blanched in disgust. Kitsuneme grimaced. "Darn, that was a bitter one, guess I'm unlucky today!"

We had a ritual of ingesting our pills at the same time every meal, then afterwards we would compare and see whose tasted the worst. The one that was most horrible would be 'unlucky' for the rest of the day. Not that we really believed in such a superstition, but it made the mundane task seem all the more interesting.

Sumire licked her lips and smirked. "Mine was sweet." Kistuneme gasped. "No fair!"

Ruka smacked his lips and sighed. "That wasn't as bad as yesterday's one." He smiled at me. "How about you Sakura?"

I swallowed thickly. "You know, yucky as always. But not too bad." Ruka laughed. "I see."

As we gathered our trays I kept silent, concentrating on swallowing as much saliva as possible. I hadn't lied, the pill was yucky. But it was by far the worse thing I ever tasted.

The pills tasted no different from blood.

…


End file.
